There is No Feud Between Selena and Justin Because Selena Already Won It

Justin Bieber spent the weekend flooding his Instagram with photos of model Sofia Richie, a fact that did not go unnoticed by off-again ex Selena Gomez, who politely suggested that he keep the photos to himself. Though Selena and Justin have seemed like relatively friendly exes as far as sunken celeb ships go, that didn't stop Bieber from firing back at Selena — hard: "It's funny to see people that used me for attention and still try to point the finger this way," he allegedly said.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The comment is sloppily written and doesn't make a ton of sense, but you get the gist of it: Justin is basically saying Selena owes her success in part to him.

Accusing female celebrities of milking men for fame has become the go-to insult of the moment (see also: Kanye West), which means it's not only sexist but unoriginal. Even worse, it's just not true, for several reasons:

1. Twenty-four-year-old Selena has been working professionally since she was 7 years old — over a decade before she started dating Justin.

Most Popular

2. Selena is the most-followed person on Instagram — proof of the massive international fanbase she has accumulated since, again, she was basically a fetus.

3. The singer has released six albums, the most recent of which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. She also has 22 film credits, 19 television credits, a clothing line, a fragrance, and a gazillion awards to show for it all. She's not exactly sitting on her butt waiting for a dude to turn her into a household name.

If Selena and Justin need to deal with the complicated mess of feelings that come from a roller coaster relationship by occasionally popping off at each other on social media, can you really blame them? (Everyone knows at least 50% of all social media decisions are fueled by exes.) But for Justin to take credit for Selena's star power is so fake, it's hard to imagine he even believes it himself — Justin knows that Selena is talented AF and has worked professionally for her entire life. That's what makes his comment extra annoying — like he's just another jerk guy who deals with a severed relationship by making his ex feel like she's not good enough.

No one doubts that Selena is good enough; Justin's off-the-cuff jab doesn't change anyone's mind about that. And Justin's fans won't waver in loyalty just because he made one cheap shot at an ex. But let the record show that this is one feud Selena has already won.